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New Research Reveals That Social Media Use Among Businesses Is Declining Slightly

What’s Your Move?

Back in January, we asked entrepreneurs whether social media was important to the success of their business. The results were decidedly split, so we asked Dave Wurzer, CI’s chief investment officer, to weigh in. “For certain products, social media plays a major role, but for B2B it plays less of a role than people think it does,” he says. “It’s better to focus on your website.”

It seems that the fastest-growing companies in the country agree. While the use of social media among the Inc. 500 (Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing privately held small companies in the United States) remains high, it is starting to decline, according to a recent report from the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which tracks companies’ social media use annually. The study found that:

94 percent of the Inc. 500 use at least one social media platform, vs. 96 percent in 2017
LinkedIn and Facebook both experienced double-digit declines in use in 2018 compared with 2016 and 2017, but were ranked as the most effective platforms.
Twitter and YouTube were ranked as the least effective platforms.
Instagram adoption declined from 49 percent to 47 percent in the past year—the first decline for the photo- and video-sharing social networking service since 2013.
Companies’ top two concerns regarding their use of social media are return on investment and privacy issues.
Nearly half of the companies reported that the value of free social media has leveled off and that they’re seeking alternatives.
Half of the Inc. 500 use blogs to engage their audience.

Download the full report.

Should you go whole-hog on a blog?
If you want to widen your reach and you’re concerned about your social media return on investment, starting a blog may be a good idea. Weblogs, or blogs for short, offer startups a fairly easy way to build and engage an audience—and they don’t require any investment other than time. (You do need a platform, though, such as WordPress, which you probably already have for your website.)

Unlike social media, which is a “shared media,” your blog is “owned media,” meaning that you own the content and the audience (your readers and subscribers). By contrast, when you share a post with your “friends” and followers on sites like Facebook, for example, you may create the content, but Facebook can use that content—and it owns the audience. Sites like these can also shut down any time (think Google+). For marketing purposes, a mix of shared and owned content makes sense. You’ll want to keep your readers—your list, after all, is marketing gold—but promote your blog via social media, which has a wider reach.

Do blogs help you grow your business? In a word: yes. Hubspot, a growth platform, found that businesses that use blogs as part of their content marketing mix get 67 percent more leads than those that don’t. It’s also been reported that websites with a blog have 434 percent more indexed pages—an important factor for getting found by your prospects online.

Other advantages of blogs are that you can update them quickly, easily mine customer insights (provided you enable the comments section) and measure the results of your effort by tracking metrics against your business goals.

Before you start blogging
Blogging is fairly easy—you are, after all, an expert in [insert your company’s niche here] and you probably have plenty to say. Before you begin, it’s a good idea to do some homework to guide your strategy. Ask yourself:

Who is my audience? In other words, who, specifically, am I writing this for?
What keeps them up at night? What are their pain points that I can solve?
What keywords do they search for online? (If you don’t know, do some research using Google or a site like Answer the Public.)
How will my business grow as a result of the blog?
Do I have time to blog at least once a week?

This last point is important. “The worst thing you can do as a business is start a consistent dialogue with your customers and then stop,” writes Joe Pulizzi in his book Epic Content Marketing (worth a read).

Today, the average blog post takes nearly three and a half hours to write, according to new research of 1,000 bloggers by Orbit Media. (In 2014, the average blog post took about 2.5 hours to write.) And the number of bloggers who spend more than six hours on a post doubled in a year.

Does all this effort pay off? Orbit Media’s research says yes: Bloggers who spent the most time reported the strongest results.

This make sense.

“Consumers want to trust their information sources and are increasingly expecting that content to be rigorously researched, factually accurate, and worthy of their time and attention—meaning that it helps them make better decisions and confidently complete the tasks they need to get done,” writes Jodi Harris.

Just like time spent writing a blog post, the typical length of a post has increased every year since 2014. In 2014, the average post was slightly more than 800 words. Today, the average post is 1,151 words. The correlation between length and success is even stronger here, according to Orbitz’s report: “More than half of the bloggers who write 2,000+ word articles report ‘strong results.’”

Expert blogging tips—blast your blog into the stratosphere

Aim to blog at least once a week. Research shows that greater blogging frequency correlates to stronger results.
Spend some time crafting your titles, because they’re what entice people to read. “How-to” titles as well as those with numbers—“How to Reduce Surgery Times in Five Easy Steps,” for example, perform well. So do “Mistakes Made” and “Secrets of.”
Write in a conversational tone, as if you were advising a friend. And be sure to break up your copy with subheads, images and bullets where you can.
Focus on your customers and their problems—it’s a can’t-lose strategy
Include images, but be sure you have permission to use them.
Promote the blog via social media, your website and your email list.
Include a call to action telling your readers what you want them to do—ask us a question, download our e-book, sign up for our webinar, etc.
Measure subscriptions, visits, unique visits, pageviews, time on site, search rankings, inbound links, etc. to see if your strategy is working. (Blogs are a long game.)
Make a list of the top five or 10 blogs in your industry. Read them, comment on them, and offer to guest blog. This is a great way to build awareness for your site while building trust and credibility in your industry. (You’ll want to ask for a link back to your own blog.)
Got writer’s block? Dissolve it easily by thinking about a question your prospects or customers have asked you or your team more than once. Then, start writing the answer. You can also take a contrary position to a news article, expand on a topic your competitors didn’t explain well enough, create a list (“The Top 10 Websites on Fintech You Should Visit,” for example), or interview industry leaders. The latter tactic has the added bonus of helping you spread awareness…one expert we interviewed at CI has over a million Twitter followers and continues to share our post years after it was published.

Recommended Reading

25 Tips for Marketing Your Blog

44 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Blog

Have a question about blogging or anything else? Contact us any time.

How to Deal with HR Issues When You Don’t Have an HR Department

work conflict

The human resources function has changed markedly in the past few decades. The department that has historically been tasked with managing benefits, payroll and the hiring process now plays an integral role in shaping corporate strategy, developing leaders, creating policies and seeing companies through volatile times. Startups can use HR strategically to help shape the company culture, manage employee relations, attract and retain talent, and minimize risk to the business. But what do you do if you don’t have an HR function? Laura Burgess, PHRca, SHRM-CP, CHRS, an HR business partner at Murdock Martell, weighs in.

Connecticut Innovations: Thanks for talking to us, Laura. Let’s dive right in. Most early-stage startups don’t have an HR department. Are there HR policies they should put in place anyway?

Laura Burgess: It really depends. A startup could need wage and hour policies immediately if it has exempt and non-exempt employees, and it could need travel and expense policies if it has a significant number of sales employees or employees who travel for business. It could also need a basic handbook accompanied by manager training to ensure consistency and a positive company culture.

CI: What should HR policies cover?

LB: I recommend a handbook. When working with a startup, I start with a handbook questionnaire and then customize the handbook for the startup. The discussion about the handbook offers the company’s founders a good starting point for topics to think about and helps ensure that employees understand the company’s expectations. It can take only a few hours to get a major document in place.

CI: In the absence of an HR lead, who should handle HR issues?

LB: It is important for HR to handle HR issues. An HR consultant is less expensive than reaching out to your employment attorney. An HR consultant can also work within the company’s financial constraints. Many times when I’m working with an early-stage startup, I am asked to stay within a specific budget.

CI: Is it necessary to devote time to onboarding, or should new hires expect to be thrown into the deep end?

LB: Onboarding is a very important component of company culture and growth. It does not take much time to set up the onboarding process with a canned email, a package of all required forms, and some follow-through.

CI: How do you keep employees happy when there’s not much opportunity for growth?

LB: The startup is the opportunity for growth. The startup needs to position the job as one where the new hire will wear many hats (job roles) and continuously grow as the company grows. The opportunity to define and perfect a role can challenge an employee. Employees grow by personally defining what they like and do not like about several roles they may have in a company.

CI: How important are performance reviews? A lot of startups skip them.

LB: Most startups skip performance reviews until they have about 30 employees. Performance reviews can be conducted at any size company, but generally they’re not necessary until the company enters high-growth mode. The tool then becomes important for evaluating employees, role needs and compensation practices.

CI: What’s the best way to terminate a poor performer? Is there a way to limit risk to the company? What if the employee is in a protected class?

LB: Document, document, document. Most states are “at-will.” If your startup is in a litigious state, however, an employee can file a claim for anything. It is always best for the company and the employee to have documentation around poor performance. It is also important that the company show that it was fair and reasonable in its approach to the decision. Some startups have every terminated employee sign a separation agreement whereby the terminated employee releases any claims against the company.

CI: What options are there for startup employees who feel they’re being harassed or discriminated against?

LB: Employees should reach out first to their immediate supervisor or manager. If that’s not a viable option, they should reach out to an executive-level member of the startup. Harassment and discrimination should never be tolerated, and employees should have written steps and processes to follow if they feel they are being harassed or discriminated against.

CI: What’s the best way for a startup to handle
…office romance?

LB: Communicate to all employees the expectations around office relationships. Create a policy expressing the expectations.

…hygiene issues?

LB: Hygiene issues need to be handled kindly and sometimes delicately. Sometimes a manager can discuss the issue privately with the employee. This is also something an HR consultant could come on site to do.

…hostility/fighting among employees?

LB: Expectations should be set through manager communications, through company leaders and in written policies that outline the expectation of behavior and the consequences.

…an employee who needs to take extended leave to care for a family member or undergo medical treatment?

LB: This is a strong reason for an HR consultant or internal HR person. In federal and state law there are many rules, processes and forms to comply with. It is important to provide fair and consistent practices when applying the laws and regulations around leaves of absence.

CI: If a startup decides to hire a consultant, what should it look for?

LB: Human resources is a large field with lots of people who may specialize in one area, such as compensation or employee relations. HR-related startup needs include compliance, payroll, policies, onboarding and terminations. Startups should make sure the consultant they hire specializes in startups and has several years of experience. It is good to look for someone that has a PHR or SPHR certification from HRC (HR Certification Institute) or an SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP certification from SHRM (the Society for Human Resources Management). This shows that they are a member of an HR group and have good resources behind them.

CI: Anything else startups should know with regard to HR?

LB: It is not expensive to get advice and guidance from an HR consultant. By doing so, as the company grows it will ensure that it is constantly staying compliant and putting into practice policies and processes that protect the company and show employees that the company values them.

CI: Thank you, Laura.

LB: You’re welcome.

Laura Burgess consults with startups in technology and life sciences and specializes in compliance, process improvement, handbook and policy creation, employee relations and training. Reach her at lburgess@murdockmartell.com.

The Better Angels of Our Future

The Role of Angel Investing in the Rise of Connecticut Startups

computer data work

Without angel investors, many dynamic young companies would never get off the ground. Angels are a pivotal means of support for the entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing startups with difficult-to-raise seed capital.

But why should angels choose to invest in Connecticut among the myriad other investment choices and options across the country? And, for that matter, why would a startup take its revolutionary new idea and bank on Connecticut as the place to get it off the ground and onto a successful growth trajectory?

One measure of reassurance is a recent statement by newly elected governor Ned Lamont wherein he has “pledged to reinvigorate the formation of homegrown companies” in the state. There’s also the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program along with other enticements to attract startups and investors. For this article, we interviewed successful founders and experienced angel investors to explore the appeal of starting a business and investing in Connecticut. The following consolidates their comments and feedback.

WHY FOUNDERS ARE CHOOSING CONNECTICUT FOR THEIR STARTUPS

The consensus among the article’s contributors is that when companies choose to locate in Connecticut, they are drawn to some very specific advantages the state has to offer. Namely, talent and resources, prime location, and affordability.

Talent and Resources

Connecticut’s world-class university system, particularly Yale University and the University of Connecticut, produces some of the best and brightest technology minds with each graduating class. What’s more, the state also boasts a depth of professional expertise in fields such as biotech, digital health, fintech and advanced manufacturing. There are a number of industry powerhouses in the state, such as United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney and Stanley Black & Decker, that are committed to cultivating cutting-edge innovation and have the resources to help make it happen. A number of companies are choosing to locate in the state based on these local factors.

Prime Location

Given its position between New York and Boston, a major draw of businesses to Connecticut is its accessibility to multiple global transportation hubs. It also has cities like New Haven, Hartford and Stamford that foster a climate of diversity, inclusiveness and multiculturalism—key attractors for a creative young workforce. On the softer side, Connecticut is a great place to live with a natural environment of beaches, lakes, bike and hiking trails, hundreds of top schools—from pre-K through postgraduate, and many options for first-rate dining, entertainment and culture.

Affordability

For many people who find places like New York and Boston somewhat overwhelming, not to mention incredibly expensive, Connecticut offers a great alternative. While other locations in New England struggle with high costs of living and commercial overdevelopment, Connecticut represents a great place to do business that still retains value and opportunity for growth.

WHY ANGEL INVESTORS CONTINUE TO BET ON CONNECTICUT

For some of the same reasons founders decide to put down stakes in Connecticut, angel investors see the opportunity for innovative local startups to thrive. Angels recognize the advantages of proximity to major markets and transportation routes, the rich source of talent, and local industry resources dedicated to advancing breakthrough technologies. But what are some of the other deciding factors that encourage investors to take the risk to support very early stage companies in the state? Our interview participants have suggested the following motivations.

Local Affinity

For the most part, angels like to invest close to where they live and work. While they hope to realize a profitable investment, angel investors particularly enjoy seeing their capital at work creating jobs and stimulating economic growth in their own communities.

Many angels, having accumulated wealth as a result of their own successful business ventures, have a great deal to offer other than finances to startups. Of most value is their industry knowledge and contacts. And if they are close by, they’re in a much better position to lend their expertise, perhaps even taking a seat on the board, while also closely monitoring their investment.

Shared Risk

Investors are always seeking good risk-reward opportunities. For angel investors, because investing in startups is at the far end of the risk spectrum, they are generally unwilling to go it alone. But when they see other seasoned investors or angel groups involved and when the company itself is raising a significant share of the initial capital required, those are the deals angels are comfortable pursuing.

Angel Investor Tax Credit

The other major advantage to investing in Connecticut is the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program.* In the words of one of the investors we interviewed, “Whenever I’m looking at a set of investments and one has a tax credit, I usually tilt in that direction.” And from a founder’s perspective, “The tax credit has made a real difference in our ability to attract angel investors.”

WAYS TO GROW THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN CONNECTICUT

Develop Educational Programs

In the opinion of one of the angel investors who contributed to this article, the greatest way to advance the startup ecosystem is through education—getting the word out through a series of events across the state aimed at informing and engaging both founders and investors about what early-stage investing is, what it takes to launch a successful startup, and what Connecticut has to offer to support such efforts. For instance, an event might focus on introducing the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program and Angel Investor Forum. Or sharing specific stories of successful Connecticut startups—the more examples of actual successes, the more people will be willing to consider taking the risk to invest.

Encourage Failure

As strange as it may sound, a vital means of supporting the startup ecosystem in Connecticut is to encourage the acceptance of failure as part and parcel of the startup world. Of all the founders that attempt a startup company, a great many will probably fail. But many will also succeed. In places like Boston, New York and even Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs are not afraid to take risks, and as a result there are many successful startups. Connecticut should strive to inculcate this mindset—that it’s okay to take a risk, and in the event of failure, entrepreneurs should just learn from the missteps and feel emboldened to try again. The same rule should apply on the success side. When companies are successful and they spin out other companies, the talent that helped make it happen should be encouraged to stay in Connecticut and start their own new companies. Ideally, the ecosystem will evolve to the point where this is an ongoing, sustainable cycle.

Invest in Infrastructure

To truly bolster the startup ecosystem, our article contributors believe the state should pursue opportunities to renovate and rebuild its infrastructure while continuing to fund and support organizations like Connecticut Innovations that foster high-tech industry development. On the infrastructure front, one specific recommendation was to enhance the state’s transportation systems—both within the cities and by increasing the speed of regional train lines. Another suggestion was to be out in front in adopting a 5G wireless infrastructure, which would give Connecticut companies a decisive competitive advantage in the global digital economy.

Foster an Entrepreneurial Business Climate

Our contributors expressed confidence that many elements are beginning to take shape to foster a more entrepreneurial business environment in Connecticut. Business incubators and accelerators are gaining momentum in providing resources and funding for early-stage companies. There are a number of coworking spaces in full vigor. Some local VCs are ramping up their activity. The university system continues to yield cutting-edge intellectual property—with spinouts of next-generation technology companies. And there is Innovation Places—the CTNext flagship program that seeks to support entrepreneurs by revitalizing prime locations in the state to attract the talent high-growth enterprises need. In the words of one founder, “Innovation Places is exactly what we need.”

CONCLUSION

Without angel investing, many of today’s successful startups would never have made it past their innovative idea. The seed funding stage is the crucial moment when angel investors have a chance to make a difference and maybe contribute to the next great technology breakthrough. As this article has highlighted, Connecticut continues to build its startup ecosystem and offers a number of tangible benefits for founders and investors alike.

NOTE: Special thanks to the following founders and investors who were interviewed for this article and whose insights are incorporated herein:

Ben Berkowitz, Co-Founder and CEO, Seeclickfix
Joe DeMartino, Investor, consultant and advisor to early-stage technology companies; Managing Director and Deal Flow Chair, Angel Investor Forum
Alan Mendelson, Investment Committee Member, Connecticut Innovations; Board Member, Connecticut Technology Council and MIT Enterprise Forum
Charles O’Connell, Founder and CEO, FitScript

Angel Investor Tax Credit Program Requirements for Connecticut Startups

Any industry

Less than $1 million in gross revenues
Operating in Connecticut for less than seven years
Less than 25 employees; 75% Connecticut residents
Primarily owned by management and/or families
Apply to CI for Qualified Connecticut Business (QCB) status*

* QCB must recertify annually

Requirements for Investors

Accredited investor
Cash investment of $25,000 to $1,000,000
Control less than 50% of the QCB
Apply to CI for tax credit reservation number**
Register for angel tax credit certificate
Tax credit (25% of investment) may be sold, assigned or transferred

** subject to annual limits; expires 45 days from issuance

A complete list of QCBs may be found on the Connecticut Innovations (CI) website.

Ultimate Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Industry 4.0

In the late 19th century, the world was transformed by the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of the steam engine. In total, there have been four major waves of industrial revolutions.

The second was the introduction of electricity and assembly lines in the early twentieth century. The third, in the 1970’s, was computer powered automation that allowed people to program machines and robots to complete tasks.

Today, there is a fourth revolution that is quickly changing the landscape of industries: Industry 4.0.

Full story: https://www.iqsdirectory.com/resources/ultimate-guide-everything-need-to-know-about-industry-4-0/

The Future of Digital Health

The Future of Digital Health

Digital health is experiencing explosive growth. Innovators and investors alike see the tremendous potential in technologies that can transform the face of healthcare by leveraging data to improve diagnosis, treatment, outcomes and the overall patient experience. In other words, healthcare is an industry ripe for disruption.

This topic was the focus of a panel at the 2018 VentureClash competition. The discussion was moderated by Sri Muthu, CEO and co-founder of HealthVenture Corporation.

The panel speakers included Matthew Cohen, Vice President of Research and Development for Medtronic’s Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Erin Hatzikostas, a groundbreaking innovator within Aetna; Harlan Krumholz, MD, renowned cardiologist and Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale-New Haven Hospital; Eric Roscow, CEO of Diameter Health; and Barry Stein, MD, Vice President and Chief Clinical Innovation Officer for Hartford HealthCare.

The following article highlights some of the key perspectives gleaned from this interdisciplinary panel of industry experts. Their thoughts have been consolidated and paraphrased in some cases.

Aspirations for Disruption

The panel was asked to define digital health and what it seeks to accomplish at its core. The consensus of the panelists was that although healthcare has already been transformed to the digital realm, the challenge lies in leveraging the digital data—which none professed to be doing to any great extent in their organizations. Ideally, digital health solutions should facilitate the seamless, frictionless sharing of data among all stakeholders (patients, providers, payers and suppliers), leading to better decisions, improved outcomes and heightened efficiency.

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Inferior Consumer Experience

All agreed that the healthcare experience is in desperate need of transformation. Waiting rooms are full, it’s hard to make appointments, information doesn’t flow, duplicate and sometimes unnecessary tests and procedures are performed, and patients can’t readily access their medical records, physician notes, discharge summaries and the like. But the current reality is that patients keep showing up nonetheless. To some extent this is because their choices are limited by their health plans and also by the dominance of certain providers in the market.

Convoluted Infrastructure

When asked to describe the healthcare industry infrastructure that innovators will be required to engage with, one panelist equated it to a mess of tangled Christmas tree lights that you can’t just discard and replace. The others heartily agreed with the analogy.

Today’s truly visionary innovators that recognize the dire need to address the consumer experience can become viable competitors of the much larger players in the market. But there’s the unavoidable issue of a weak infrastructure in the healthcare system. We can bolt many solutions and many technologies onto this infrastructure, but if the Christmas tree light theory holds, we’re attaching to a broken infrastructure that needs to be repaired first. That is challenge number one.

Evolution to Value-Based Healthcare

The move toward value-based care versus fee-for-service should be top of mind for innovators because it will change the healthcare paradigm in a huge way. We’re not quite there yet, but the end game should be around incentivizing providers based on patient health outcomes, not on the number of services provided. The benefits of a such a system in terms of greater efficiency, reduced cost, decreased risk and improved outcomes is an across-the-board win—for patients, providers, payers and suppliers.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR STARTUPS

Understanding the Current State

Startups that succeed will have a deep understanding of the current system. It’s hard to walk into the digital health space without understanding all the moving parts, which is why we have yet to see a Silicon Valley company be truly disruptive in the digital health arena. You have to combine a groundbreaking idea and technology with deep content knowledge of the many illogical facets of our healthcare system that can conspire against innovative practices.

Imperative Interoperability

One of the key challenges the panel discussed was the crucial need for interoperability. Any solution must be able to connect data from many different sources—whether it’s CVS or Walgreens, Hartford Hospital or Yale, Aetna or Cigna, Fitbit or Apple—without the benefit of a standardized application programming interface (API). And all that information must be easily aggregated, intelligently delivered, and proactively used to enable the digital health future we’re striving for.

Creating a Viable Business Model in a Complex Industry

The healthcare industry is not for the faint of heart—it takes sheer determination to penetrate. And it’s about as Rubik’s-cube as you can get. You can have the greatest idea of how you can improve things—and digital health is a pathway to do it—but you’ve got to figure out what the business model is. As long as the business model continues to reward bad service, there’s no competitive drive to create solutions. Part of what we have to do is fashion a healthcare system that’s going to reward the kind of innovation that’s going to deliver in a way we haven’t in the past. This will never happen as long as the bottom line is not affected by providing bad service.

WHAT STARTUPS SHOULD DO

Know the Problem You’re Trying to Solve

There’s an enormous amount of technology and talent looking for something to solve. It’s far more important to identify a significant, existing problem—one whose solution will generate substantial value. The greatest such opportunities in the healthcare space will most assuredly be consumer driven. If we craft a solution from the perspective of the consumer lens, there’s a seismic opportunity to transform healthcare.

Know Whom You Can Delight

Ask yourself whose life you’re going to make easier and better—and be able to prove you can make it happen. We can get enamored with the technology. And the technology is crucial. But in the end, it’s really a solid implementation plan that’s going to make a difference.

Pitch Wisely

When you’re approaching a potential strategic partner, you have to understand the problem you propose to solve, but you also have to be confident your solution fits within their business model. You should hit one of their top three priorities. It’s also vital to show that you understand their infrastructure and that you can easily plug into it. It should be obvious why your technology is going to make things better—you shouldn’t have to oversell it—but be sure you have data around all your proof points.

Consider costs and be practical

If the prospect of generating evidence to prove a clinical benefit will be super difficult or expensive, that’s another good litmus test to determine whether you’re on solid ground to advance your idea to the next level. And if you do move forward, you have to always attach to economic value and clinical outcomes.

Demonstrate a scalable market

It’s great to have a problem to solve and the technology to solve it. But if you’re looking to get funded or have investors, you must have a viable business model that’s both scalable and sustainable.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As asserted by one panelist, the medical practice and the healthcare industry will be entirely different a decade from now, in large part due to digital health solutions and how we evolve. But it will be a painful zigzag process due to the legacy systems that make things difficult.

The digital health plays that will make the biggest difference will be the ones that combine a keen sense of technology with a clear and present problem and deep content knowledge of how to navigate a system that’s not always logical. That’s sound advice for any entrepreneur considering entering this space.

Creating a Winning Funding Strategy

During the creation stage of your entrepreneurial journey, money shouldn’t really enter the transom of your mind in a significant way. But once you realize you’re onto something groundbreaking, a truly disruptive innovation, you’ll have to figure out the funding sources that will fuel your progress from starting block to finish line.

We asked some of the key players on the CI Venture Team—those responsible for evaluating investment opportunities, structuring investments and monitoring portfolio companies—for a look into their playbooks derived from steering hundreds of companies from entry to exit. The following article is a synopsis of their collective wisdom.

CAPITAL-RAISING MINDSET

Know What You Want

One of the first questions to ask yourself before you even begin to think about raising money is what you hope to accomplish with your company. Do you want a business that you can grow organically and control over the long term? Or do you want to grow fast, strike gold and move on to the next big thing? If your answer is the latter, then venture capital funding is probably your best bet.

Be Worth the Risk

Fundraising strategy is more art than science. Every situation is unique, and the variables are often unpredictable. However, at the risk of oversimplifying the challenge at hand—just build a great company with an ace management team and a compelling business plan in a large and growing market. Accomplish this, and you’ll have a solid inroad to potential investors.

Think Like an Investor

If you clear all the initial hurdles and get an opportunity to make your case to an investor—to explain why your emerging business will be one of the relatively few to succeed—remember that the goals and priorities of VCs may not be exactly aligned with yours. Pitching friends and family, and even angels, who may be rooting for you to succeed is considerably less daunting. With a VC pitch, you have to be prepared to up your game.

VC investors may be drawn in by your moxie and fascinated by your ingenuity, but they’re going to want to hear your realistic expectations for what you can accomplish in the near term and detailed projections of your path to an eventual big payout. Venture investing is a high-stakes business with a singular mission to maximize returns. For the VC, whether your company will change the world is just a means to an end. So, your pitch should be patterned to this messaging.

HONE YOUR PITCH PERCEPTION

You with Me?

Even if you’ve rehearsed your pitch to every friend, neighbor and unfortunate soul sitting next to you on the train, and you’re sure you’ve nailed it, you should develop a keen awareness of the receptivity of each audience you pitch. If you begin to see attention waning, shift gears. If you’re mired in financials, change things up—talk about your competitive edge or increase in repeat customers. Or pause to take a few questions to break up the monotony.

For an optimal fundraising strategy, you should always have multiple pitch styles ready to go to take advantage of unexpected opportunities to discuss your company. You should have a tight elevator pitch, a high-level 10- to 15-minute pitch, and a more detailed presentation for when you have 30 minutes or more.

Enough Said

The adage that you learn more from listening than from talking is one you should take to heart. Plan to spend half your pitch time presenting the problem you’ve identified and your unique solution, and use the other half to answer questions. A big mistake many founders make is getting caught up in the momentum of their pitch without leaving time to address investor concerns.

You should be prepared to respond to all manner of questions about your technology, the market and your business plan. And be ready to discuss the upside for your investors—how they’ll make their money back, the projected revenue growth rate, and the time horizon to a potential exit.

KNOW WHOM TO ASK AND WHY

Narrow the Field

There is a great deal of specialization among institutional investors, and funding from the wrong source can sometimes be just as perilous as not raising enough. VCs tend to focus on specific industries, geographies, fundraising stages and other factors. So, a scattershot approach just won’t do. When you’re creating a capital-raising strategy, it’s important to understand the investors and other players in your marketplace.

As tempting as it might be, don’t jump at the first offer. Take the time to evaluate prospective investors—you should be vetting them as much as they’re vetting you. Think through where you’re getting your money and make sure there’s good alignment with the source of your capital and what you want to do, how you want to do it, and in what time frame.

You should also find out what other companies are in the VC’s portfolio, keeping in mind that if the VC is holding companies similar to yours, that’s not necessarily a negative. It may be looking to create synergies. You may be able to gain an edge by discussing ways that your business will complement the other companies in the VC’s portfolio.

Find a Lead Investor

As you set out on each specific fundraising round, focus first and foremost on finding an experienced lead investor, ideally one at the helm of a strong syndicate with deep pockets and a sector focus that includes broad industry expertise and a network of contacts. This will make the process immeasurably more efficient. With a lead investor, you’ll have (a) the validation of an investor that has provided a term sheet and is willing to take charge of the round, and (b) a professional fundraising organization working for you to fill out the round. Once you turn over the reins, you can turn your full attention back to running your business—at least until it’s time to start finding a lead for your next fundraising round.

Consider Strategic Investors

Another fertile ground to consider for fundraising is strategic investors. These are large players, often the largest ones, in the very industry you seek to disrupt.

A strategic investor can share industry insight and even become your customer. Such an investor can provide a distribution platform to the extent that your product or service is value-added for their customer base. And you can gain access to their global sales force.

On the down side, if you’re working too closely with a strategic investor, you could find others reluctant to invest. Perhaps your strategic investor is a competitor of the investor you’re pitching. You may find that having a strategic investor on your capitalization table could tank your ability to work across the entire industry. Finally, working with a strategic investor might limit your options of viable candidates if your ultimate goal is a strategic sale. Once again, you have to carefully evaluate the sources of capital and all the potential ramifications.

Know What You Don’t Know

When you’re planning a raise, an important part will be building an experienced advisory board with industry experts that can lend valuable knowledge and a fresh perspective you might not have considered. Often your lead investor will be one of your best advisers because it’s someone who’s willing to put skin in the game.

The advisory team should include a few key constituencies: industry insiders who, through their contacts and influence, can open doors for sales. Others whose industry knowledge can help shape your product, service or company offering. Others may be able to open doors to investors or other sources of financing. As you’re planning out your raise, these contacts and connections will be vital.

A PATHWAY VIA MILESTONES

Everyone in the venture capital world talks about the importance of milestones—those specific, measurable achievements that create value and help ensure that your company can continue on its journey. But for investors, the real holy grail is traction, because the more traction you gain, the less risk your company faces, and the more enticing your next investment round will be. So, when you’re touting your milestones as the linchpin of your fundraising conversations, you should explain how each and every one increases traction and decreases risk for your company.

How you define those milestones will vary widely by industry, geography and fundraising round. Even within the same industry, investors will have different opinions. So, it’s best to get lots of input and leverage your network of contacts to make those determinations. Here’s where having the right advisers in place can be invaluable to help you craft the narrative to promote the next financing round.

For each raise, you should make a clear commitment to what you will accomplish with the money raised. And if you don’t hit those marks, it’s crucial to have a compelling reason why and back it up with the milestones you have achieved in the time frame. You should also be prepared for it to take more money and time than you think to hit your milestones. And be prepared for unexpected changes—the macro market can blow up the playing field and leave you scrambling to reset your priorities.

FUNDRAISING METRICS

When to Raise

One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is knowing when to begin seeking outside investors. If you go out to market too early, without the appropriate traction, you’ll sacrifice your future credibility. Also, once you take investment money in exchange for an equity stake in your company, you’ve started the clock on building the business for the purpose of delivering a return for investors. So be ready before you go there.

When the time is right, coordinate your fundraising outreach to align with an active pipeline of ongoing milestone wins. For each raise, you should be able to point to a few key traction-building, risk-mitigating milestones you’ve achieved as well as specific progress toward the next two or three milestones on the horizon.

Naturally, it’s easiest to raise money when you don’t need it. If you haven’t hit your milestones and your bank account is on fumes, it’s ridiculously hard to raise money. The broadly accepted rule of thumb for startups is an 18-month runway. That will give you 12–15 months to hit some strong milestones and three to six months to raise your next round.

How Much to Raise

Generally speaking, you should seek to raise no more, and no less, than you can put to work—although, if you’re offered more than you’ve asked for, you should take it. But then the onus is on you to employ the funds to maximum advantage. By the time you head out to fundraise, you should have a clearly stated rationale for how much money you’ll need to hit the specific milestones you’re striving for. And then, always build in a buffer to handle the unexpected—if you have to slow down because you run out of funding, you can lose crucial momentum that may be difficult to regain and you also open the door for a competitor to gain traction and pass you.

Of course, even with the best-laid plans you may find yourself tapped out. But it doesn’t have to be game over. You could just need more time. This is where a strong syndicate is so vital. If you come up short, existing investors can often provide a lifeline. With the latitude of some bridge funding, you may be able to get back on track and gear up to raise a more formal round at a higher valuation to attract new investors.

SOLVING THE DILUTION DILEMMA

When Less Is More … So Much More

The unanimous consensus of the CI investment team is that founders should not be overly concerned about dilution. Those focused less on losing control and more on raising the right amount of capital from the right sources will be more successful. Most really good founders and virtually all serial entrepreneurs are not distracted by concerns about dilution—they are focused on the big picture and the value they will own at the end. If it’s a blockbuster, everyone wins.

You will always need money and connections. And there is a cost in terms of sharing control. Once you take on investors, they may have voting rights and will most assuredly have opinions on a range of issues. But if you have a critical funding need and can strike a reasonable negotiation of terms, take the money!

BALANCING BUSINESS AND FUNDING NEEDS

The only way to balance running your business and raising capital is to figure out how do both. Unfortunately, the two are inextricably intertwined—without capital you won’t have a business, and if you allow your business to languish, you won’t be able to attract new investors. The most prolific founders and serial entrepreneurs either possess or have learned to cultivate both skill sets.

FINDING THE SPENDING SWEET SPOT

Ideally, as soon as you raise capital you will initiate a plan to put the money to the best possible use. Your goal should be to strike a balance between spending enough to ignite fast growth while not becoming reckless with investor money.

Managing your burn rate is an issue of tempering your grand vision with what’s practical. A good board and advisers can be tremendously helpful in this regard. Be open to stress-testing your assumptions with other points of view. Then factor all that in to figure out the proper expense level.

Remember your financial responsibility to your investors. Don’t hire too quickly. And keep spending to a minimum until you have proven traction with customers willing to buy your solution. Then you can consider accelerating spending on sales, marketing, social media, support staff and the like. And don’t overlook the fact that there is a great deal you can outsource—from HR, to back office, financial management, marketing and more.

You will always have to balance spending and growth and keep close tabs so you’re sure you’re generating results. With a formalized 12-month budget and a three- to five-year operating plan, you can easily and consistently monitor your progress.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We have some parting words of wisdom from the article’s contributors:

Be careful of the deal structure you put in place in early rounds. It could create obstacles down the road and turn off new investors.
Make sure you have good legal representation—and not just any Choose one who knows the VC business and has done deals before. That sort of expertise and advice will be expensive, but money very well spent.
The internet has great information. The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) website has model documents and term sheet, which can be used as a starting point. Big venture funds also have great information on their sites.
Remember that funding a startup is largely about relationships. You have to be able to make human contact, no matter how smart you are. You might be the right person to start the company, but not the right person to fundraise or serve as CEO.
To be the most appealing to investors, you should have a laser focus on your defined target market and stick to it. If you’re targeting several customer types from multiple industries, your focus will look fragmented.

NOTE: Special thanks to the following CI subject matter experts who were interviewed for this article and whose insights are incorporated herein:

Peter Longo, Senior Managing Director, Investments
Alison Malloy, Managing Director, Portfolio Acceleration Services and Director, Investments
Douglas Roth, Managing Director, Investments
Daniel Wagner, Senior Managing Director, Investments

Keys to Successful Series A Funding

When is your tech company ready for a series A raise? If you have an epic story to tell and you’re deep into your act one milestones, the time could be right. You may be ready for your second act—the turning point of your narrative in which you secure the type and sources of funding to help ensure that your innovation will force a change in the status quo. Like any great legendary tale, you want your solution to be the reason things will be forever better.

To extend the analogy just a bit further, the second act of your entrepreneurial storyline is the point where you as protagonist must demonstrate that you have the requisite strengths to overcome any forces of antagonism that confront you—technology challenges, financial pressures, hiring needs, competition, etc. It’s your time to show potential investors who you are and what you’re capable of.

ATTRACTING INVESTORS

To achieve your fundraising goals, at any stage, you must understand what investors are looking for and deliver on it. For a series A raise in particular, your company should have achieved some key milestones to pave the way—those include momentum, management strength, market size, revenue growth and customer base expansion.

Momentum

By the time you embark on a series A raise, you should have established a foundation of external funding from friends and family, angels, strategic investors or some combination thereof. And you should have used those initial funds, along with your own money, to build out your beta or the first version of your platform. In most cases, entrepreneurs will obtain such seed round funding via convertible notes as opposed to equity. Priced round investors like to see this type of early investor commitment because it proves that there are others besides the founder that believe the idea has merit.

Management Strength

Having a top-notch management team is absolutely crucial. Series A investors are drawn to companies with highly competent leadership. And while it might seem obvious, the “team” by definition should be more than just one person. Often at the seed level the company is a one-person show, which is perfectly acceptable. But after that point it’s important to show that other professionals, especially those with industry track records and previous wins, believe in the company as much as you do and are willing to put their own careers and reputations on the line to join the fold.

Market Size

Venture investors have to believe that there is a large enough market for your business to achieve explosive growth and ultimately an even greater exit at multiples that far surpass the VC’s original investment. If your market is too niche-based, you may want to consider whether it’s truly a VC play. Perhaps your company would be better suited to growing organically and remaining a closely held lifestyle business. If your market is too small, then another option could be to pursue a strategic investor that will fund your build-out and incorporate your product or service into their business.

If you do go the VC route, you’ll be faced with investors focused almost exclusively on large exit/win opportunities. The reality is that VCs are in a very high-risk business—many companies in their portfolios will not make it. So, they need to buy into burgeoning markets that will yield huge wins to offset their downside risk.

Revenue Growth

Your company should already be generating revenue before you seek a series A raise. And the revenue trendline should, of course, be progressing upward—because there is usually a direct correlation between revenue and the beginnings of your pathway to traction. As the company begins to gain revenue momentum, you have started to prove that your solution solves an immediate need in the marketplace and that the opportunity is sufficiently large and scalable.

Customer Base Expansion

For a successful series A raise, investors need to see not just revenue but also an increasing base of customers willing to pay for your product or service. Revenue alone is not enough because it can come from sources other than your core paying customers, or core revenue streams. Similarly, you could have substantial revenue but only from a single customer—this alone won’t do. What VCs want to see is a multitude of customers that have begun to utilize your solution and a strong pipeline of customers progressing through the purchasing process. Perhaps the most important objective of series A funding is to turn your business into a repeatable, sustainable marketing machine.

EMBARKING ON YOUR SERIES A RAISE

Setting the Valuation

When you begin your series A round, it’s a time of several firsts for your company. It’s typically when you land your first institutional investor, your first priced round, and the point when your initial company valuation, and thus the per-share price, is set. At the same time, VC funding impacts your seed investors by triggering their conversion from convertible debtholders to equity shareholders.

There are many valuation methods that can be used, but ultimately it will come down to negotiation between the founder and the VC. The per-share price you establish at this stage is vitally important because it will impact your company valuation over the long term. You want the valuation to be low enough to attract additional and future investors and set the company up for a future exit, while being high enough to keep the management team happy and motivated. There is a balance to be found there. Sometimes founders will agree to a lower valuation to get a better lead investor involved, or in order to get other terms in the term sheet that may be more important to them. You can also offset the dilution by how much capital is raised at each round. It is all a balancing act. Regardless, founders should keep their eye on the goal, which is to get funded and grow their business.

Finding a Lead Investor

Your lead investor is one of the most important players that can help launch your company onto a successful trajectory. The lead will work with you to create a term sheet to fill in the rest of the round and may also take on the responsibility for securing those additional investors. In most cases, the lead investor will also take a seat on your board of directors to impact future company decisions. Because of this pivotal and influential role, it’s important that founders align with the right person to be the lead investor—someone like-minded who also has broad industry expertise and a network of contacts with investors and potential partners. First and foremost, you want a lead investor who will be personally invested in your success and can help accelerate your company growth.

Creating Your Board of Directors

Before a series A raise, many startups begin with a more informal advisory board. But institutional investors will expect a formal board of directors to be put in place with established governance procedures and guidelines. A five-person board will usually be sufficient. This should include two common stockholders, of which one should be the CEO; two preferred stockholders, of which one should be the lead investor; and one independent director, ideally an industry expert who can open doors to an active network of contacts.

Establishing Your Legal Entity Structure

Finally, when you go for your series A raise, investors will want your company to be established as a C corporation. The C corporation is widely considered the best legal entity structure for business owners that anticipate significant growth and seek personal protection from business liabilities and debts. Many startups begin as LLCs because they provide better liability protection than a general partnership and are less costly to maintain than a C corporation. But a C corporation is the preferred structure when it comes to attracting outside investors and shareholders.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Successfully securing series A funding is certainly a major turning point in the evolution of your startup, but it’s not the end of the story. It’s more like the end of the beginning. Before you even think about fundraising, you should be able to show that you have developed a groundbreaking idea with a huge untapped market and a management team that not only can make it happen, but already is doing so, as evidenced by revenue growth, customer base expansion and market traction. In fact, the only thing that should be standing in your way is funding. And if that’s all you need to be successful, you should have no trouble attracting investors.

About the Author

Alison Malloy is director of investments on the Connecticut Innovations Venture Team. You can contact her at Alison.Malloy@ctinnovations.com.

What Theranos Taught Investors About Commercialization in Healthcare

What Theranos taught investors about commercialization in health care, MarketWatch by Matthew McCooe, Connecticut Innovations

Matthew McCooe’s piece deconstructs the effects of the Theranos fallout, translating what is easily viewed as an obstacle into a horizon of opportunity for investors. The lesson here points to the need to find better ways to protect investment bets, and in bioscience, research reproducibility is key. By exemplifying the critical importance of research verification, Matthew offers specific bioscience investment strategies vital to the due diligence process.

Read full article.

Connecticut Has Become a Prime Location for Innovative Startups

Connecticut has become a prime location for innovative start ups.

If you are not a well-known coastal innovation hub, creating a culture of entrepreneurship and attracting tech investment can be a challenge. However, even for a state like Connecticut—known just 20 years ago as a crime-ridden, economic punchline—becoming a desirable haven of tech innovation is possible. In fact, with the right development of a supportive ecosystem, startup entrepreneurship can breed more of the same. And the engaged participation of local universities, a belief in unicorns, and an allure of high quality of life, innovation hubs can be created beyond giants like New York and Boston. In the end, it’s all about fostering the right conditions—just look at the growth of Connecticut’s rising tech startup scene. It takes a village.

Matthew McCooe’s piece deconstructs the complexities of creating an innovation hub beyond coastal cities know for tech startup success. By outlining what Connecticut has done over the past 20 years, Matthew breaks down the specific ingredients that moved the state from a punchline to an attractive destination for tech startup innovation.

Remembering That Diversity Drives Excellence

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Remembering That Diversity Drives Excellence

MLK Holiday Reflections

Matthew McCooe, Chief Executive Officer

Given the amount of uncivil discourse in society at this moment, I think Monday’s holiday is more important than ever. It is well understood that diversity in populations and in organizations drives excellence. Creative sparks fly when people with different backgrounds and life experiences work closely together. In fact, broadening diversity in our portfolio as well as our team is an implicit goal shared across the organization. We all reap the benefits from our ongoing open discussions and active collaborations.

Embracing the Words of Coretta Scott King

In words far better than I could ever express, Coretta Scott King beautifully captures the belief system behind Martin Luther King, Jr.’s commitment to serving others. I believe this spirit of service is core to the CI ethos—it is certainly what has me leaping from bed every morning to join my colleagues at work.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well, the timeless values he taught us through his example—the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.

On this day, we commemorate Dr. King’s great dream of a vibrant, multiracial nation united in justice, peace and reconciliation; a nation that has a place at the table for children of every race and room at the inn for every needy child. We are called on this holiday, not merely to honor, but to celebrate the values of equality, tolerance and interracial sister and brotherhood he so compellingly expressed in his great dream for America.

The King holiday celebrates Dr. King’s global vision of the world house, a world whose people and nations had triumphed over poverty, racism, war and violence. The holiday celebrates his vision of ecumenical solidarity, his insistence that all faiths had something meaningful to contribute to building the beloved community.

Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we “will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life’s most persistent and nagging question, he said, is ‘what are you doing for others?’” He would quote Mark 9:35, the scripture in which Jesus of Nazareth tells James and John, “…whosoever will be great among you shall be your servant; and whosoever among you will be the first shall be the servant of all.” And when Martin talked about the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February 4, 1968 in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life.

We call you to commemorate this holiday by making your personal commitment to serve humanity with the vibrant spirit of unconditional love that was his greatest strength, and which empowered all of the great victories of his leadership. And with our hearts open to this spirit of unconditional love, we can indeed achieve the Beloved Community of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream.

What Truly Makes America Great

I have had the honor to personally witness the greatness that can result from a national philosophy that embraces our fellow citizens of the world in their times of greatest adversity.

In 1990, I served as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Seattle, helping immigrants from war-torn countries such as El Salvador apply for and win political asylum. I worked days, nights and weekends after the Immigration Act of 1990 was passed allowing all immigrants from permitted countries suffering war and harsh environmental conditions to live and work legally in the United States. We encouraged people to apply, knowing they would be exposing themselves to the INS/ICE, as it bought them time and peace of mind for the first time.

It is hard to now read the headlines that over 200,000 El Salvadorans are going to lose their status. Since arriving in the United States, they have paid taxes and had 192,000 children who are U.S. citizens. They have until 2019 to decide whether to return to El Salvador or risk deportation if they stay without legal protections.

Haitians, El Salvadorans, Nigerians—many of the people being targeted by the current administration have been incredible contributors to the U.S. population, and to our economy.

A Shining Example

Here in Connecticut, Oni Chukwu is a shining example of the success that can be fostered by a welcoming nation. He is one of nine children born to a policeman in the capital city of Lagos, Nigeria. Oni had a normal childhood until his family became displaced during the Nigerian civil war. They were forced to move back to their ancestral home in the east of Nigeria, leaving behind everything they owned.

Despite this tremendous hardship, Oni and his eight siblings all went to college, and then, 25 years ago, Oni came to the United States and attended the University of New Haven, where he earned a finance-focused MBA that has carried him to triumph in the business world.

Oni is the CEO of etouches, a company that provides software solutions for event management. The company, one of the strongest companies in the CI portfolio, was recently acquired at a highly attractive premium. Oni was also an EVP/CFO of Triple Canopy, which also had a phenomenal exit. Oni’s story is an instructive reminder of the vitality of diversity and the immigrant’s drive for our society and our economy.

Final Words

The life of Martin Luther King, Jr., is the ultimate embodiment of the belief that diversity is one of the principal strengths of our nation. Our ability to welcome immigrant populations and to cross cultural barriers is at the very heart of our greatest achievements.

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